LANSING — Michigan officials will allow health insurers to extend their 2013 plans through 2014 under a policy change announced by President Barack Obama.

It’s now up to health insurance companies to decide whether they want to reinstate plans that they originally planned on discontinuing next year.

The decision could impact at least 225,000 Michiganders who buy their own insurance and received letters notifying them that their current plans don’t comply with Affordable Care Act requirements.

Michigan joins at least a dozen other states that have agreed to allow insurers to extend coverage, according to a Nov. 20 count from America's Health Insurance Plans. The industry group said at least 11 have opted not to allow it.

“The announcement of the federal policy change this close to January 1 came as a surprise,” insurance commissioner Ann Flood said in a statement released Friday afternoon. “We considered the difficulties that this change will create for insurers, but the decision came down to the fact that consumers in Michigan deserve to have options, particularly given the difficulty they’ve had accessing the federal marketplace.”

Gov. Rick Snyder supports the move. The Republican governor also backed expanding Medicaid under Obamacare and wanted a state-run insurance marketplace. The Legislature narrowly passed Medicaid expansion but did not pass legislation required for a state-run exchange, leaving the job to the federal government.

Obamacare opponents condemned the Democratic president for repeatedly telling Americans that they could keep their existing health plans, when in fact many people's plans are being discontinued. Starting in 2014, all individual and small group health plans must offer 10 "essential health benefits," including mental health, prescription drugs, maternity and newborn care and other services.

And while many people were upset to get those letters, many of them are either eligible for premium tax credits to subsidize plans purchased on the marketplace or will qualify for Medicaid once it’s expanded. (Though Michigan will implement its Medicaid expansion later in the year than other states.)

Families USA on Thursday reported that fewer than 6 percent of Michiganders under age 65 buy their own insurance on the individual market, and that many should be eligible for a tax credit. The pro-Obamacare group also noted that many people in the individual market do not keep that type of coverage for more than a year.

If customers keeps their current plan, the insurer has to notify them of the Obamacare reforms, such as essential health benefits, that are not included in their plans and inform them of their right to enroll in coverage through the marketplace with potential tax credits, according to the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

Insurers that extend their 2013 plans must allow all policyholders to keep their coverage, regardless of which plan they have, according to the Michigan Association of Health Plans.

“This is useful flexibility given the difficulties some are having signing up the online exchange; and the desire of some company customers to continue with their previous policies until a transition can be in place,” MAHP Executive Director Rick Murdock said in a statement.